Deprivation
by Devlinn Reiko
Summary: To lose a possession is one thing, but to lose a sense is another. How does one retain sanity when they lose these precious abilities having to rely on another? A problem in TB5 turns into a disaster not only disabling communications, but people as well.
1. Contest

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.

**I'm trying my writing out at Thunderbirds again. I still plan on writing a follow up to '_Inevitable_' but its still going to be a while, since I'm still deciding on a few details.**

**I don't know how successful this fic will be, but I'm hoping this will get somewhere. I know I shouldn't be writing another fic with what I already have going, but I had to get this done.**

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**Prologue **

Eyes locked onto one another. Staring into each other's window and soul searching for something. They were mute and blind to the world around them; not hearing, seeing, or feeling anything around them. All their focus was on each other's eyes. Slowly the space between the two began to close. Less and less distance separated them until their noses were almost touching. Sparkling eyes widened a bit when the dark eyes in front of his closed.

"And Alan wins!" called Gordon pounding the table with his hand as if trying to make a mock stadium.

Alan pulled back and smirked at his opponent. Virgil just slumped and put his head down on the table only to lift it and bring it down again.

"I can't close my eyes now." Alan said slowly trying to close his eyes, but didn't want to because they burned. Halfway through, tears began to fall from Alan's bloodshot eyes leading trails down his cheeks.

"How long was that?" asked Scott who was leaning against the wall. Gordon looked down at the stopwatch and read the time he stopped it at.

"Four minutes and twenty-nine seconds."

"Wow. Nice job."

"Yea, but now my eyes feel like salt was just poured on them." Alan said, muffled by his hands that were over his face.

"Aw. Too bad you can't see Virgil's eyes. They're completely bloodshot." commented Gordon. Alan removed his hands slowly and squinted.

"Virge! How many times do we have to tell you? No more drugs!"

_'Who's saying that?'_

"Haha…Scott. Very funny." Virgil said squinting and turning to face Scott.

"Um…Virgil, he's the other way." Gordon said, from the squinting glare he was receiving from Virgil.

"I know that. I'm just seeing which limb of yours I want to rip off for making me stare down at that little thing." Virgil said slowly getting up and carefully making his way over to the sink to rinse his eyes out. Scott shook his head and walked over to Virgil handing him a towel.

"I warned you."

"I know. You upgraded you warning system last month to 'even-more-right-then-you'." Virgil retorted. Scott elbowed Virgil lightly chuckling, turning towards his other two brothers to come across an amused scene.

"Okay, Allie, how many fingers?" Gordon asked holding up three fingers, a distance from Alan's face.

"One more loss, and we older ones will be put into shame. John is our last hope." Virgil said and he watched Alan guess '2' and Gordon give him a palm to the forehead.

"Don't boost Alan's self-confidence anymore." Scott said watching Alan and Gordon behave like five year olds, playfully smacking each other on the forehead. The two continued their little came, entertaining Scott and Virgil, only stopping when their father walked into the kitchen.

"Okay, you two. Tone it done a bit. You'll end up poking one of your eyes out." Jeff said amused. Looking over at Virgil, Jeff raised an eyebrow when he saw Virgil's bloodshot eyes.

"You didn't challenge Alan to a staring contest did you?" Jeff asked already knowing the answer. A light tint came to Virgil's cheeks as he turned his head to the side a bit. "You'll ruin your eyes if you keep doing that. I don't need you going blind on us." Jeff said to Alan, with a hint of humour and warning behind it.

"I'm not going to go blind dad. I put in eye drops before challenging Virgil." Alan said, sighing and leaning back in his chair.

"That's cheating." Virgil scowled.

"It's not cheating; it's called being prepared." Alan retorted smirking. Virgil narrowed his eyes, realizing too late that it was a bad idea.

"Ow, ow, ow…." He trailed off, pushing his hands to his eyes. Jeff shook his head, at the immaturity they still had sometimes.

"Scott, take him to Brains. I'm sure he has some eyes drops or something that will help." Jeff said. Scott nodded and pulled Virgil out of the kitchen. Jeff turned to look at his two youngest, seeing Gordon still playing guessing games. "Better take Alan too. He's got to meet John in a few hours, and we don't need any damage done." Scott pulled on Alan's shirt as he passed him, grabbing a hold of his shoulder and ushering the two out of the kitchen and to Brains.

Gordon watched the three go before turning back to his father.

"Have you called John yet?" He asked. Jeff shook his head.

"No. I was going to, but the raucous in here and the fact that you boys were in here, rather then outside, let a few mysteries run by." Jeff said smiling, at the innocent look Gordon was giving.

"Raucous? I don't know what you mean." Gordon said, finding interest of the view of the sea from the window.

"I'm sure you do. I think it's time to call John. Those surges that passed through TB5 earlier have been making some of the equipment act up still." Jeff said recalling the incident that happened a day before. TB5 had been hit by a few powerful electronic surges which had caused some of the equipment to override and go haywire. No critical damaged was done except for a few sparks here and there.

"Yeah, I guess. Hopefully it won't take five minutes again to get a connection going." Gordon said thinking back to the day before. Watching his father nod and walk out of the kitchen, Gordon got up and followed his father out to his office. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, his father went to the desk and hailed John.

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**I'm going to leave you guys hanging there for a bit. Just enough to get this story started. I hope to get this updated a bit faster then my other fics, but only time will tell (and how my teachers decided to torture us). As for time frame I want it to in between the movie and T.V verse, like have the time period a few years after the movie yet omitting certain details. Hopefully it will work out.**

**Please Review!**

**Devlinn Reiko**


	2. Launch

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.

**I'm glad those who have read, enjoyed the last chapter. I don't know how long it will be for the next chapter, but I'm hoping to get it done soon. **

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**Chapter One**

"How are things going, John?" Jeff asked after a connection was established between Thunderbird 5 and base.

From one of the screens on Jeff's desk, John turned from one of the control panels he had been working on and smiled at his dad.

"Pretty much on schedule. Not as good as I would like, but they're getting there." John said turning back for a moment to the control panel. Quickly pressing a few buttons, John pulled his chair up and sat down.

"What's still not working?" Jeff asked, hoping that the radio system was up and running.

"Not a lot. Mostly minor stuff. I know some lighting on the lower deck isn't working, but I can fix that easily. I just need you to send up a few lights with Alan." John quickly looked over the screens to his left. "Well long range radar is out. I can reboot that, but it will take a while, which is where Alan will be handy. Other than that the other systems are either fully operational or at least half operational." John said summing up.

Jeff rested a hand under his chin apparently he was thinking something over.

"How long do you think it will take to get everything on top again?" John ran a hand threw his hair contemplating.

"Well if Alan and I work hard, two days I think. Give or take." John said. Jeff thought it over nodding.

"Okay. It will have to do for now." Jeff said.

"It's going to have to. Also I haven't had time to check the entire lower deck personally but the computer says nothing is wrong down there. I'll wait till Alan gets here and then we'll make a check." John said, looking around his dad's office. He saw Gordon in a chair off to the side, but not the others.

"Where are the others? Usually if Gordon's there than Alan's close by, meaning that Scott and Virgil are near." John said smiling. Gordon moved his chair so that it was closer to the desk.

"Oh you missed it John. It was so amusing." Gordon said excitedly. John raised an eyebrow at Gordon's short and uninformative explanation. Jeff shook his head smiling.

"TweedleDee and Dum decided to have a staring contest." Jeff said, filling John in. John nodded his knowing where it was going.

"I'm guessing that Alan once again put us to shame?" John asked rhetorically. Gordon leaned over the desk so that he could see John, while putting on a pained expression.

"You have to do something Johnny. You're our only hope. As much as I like my partner in crime defeating you all, he defeated me. I feel….almost betrayed." Gordon said raising his head a bit and putting on a distant look for dramatic effect. John chuckled at the expression while Jeff smiled and pushed Gordon on the forehead causing him to fall into his seat.

"It's going to have to wait till later though. Scott took Virgil and Alan to see Brains because their eyes were hurting after their contest." Jeff said still not quite happy with the boys' contest.

"Ah…eye freeze. Not the greatest thing." John said remembering.

"Yes, well Brains is fixing that problem at the moment. When he's done, I'll get him to get the supplies and equipment ready." Jeff said. "I'll call you again before I send Thunderbird 3 up."

"F.A.B. Dad." John said, waving his goodbyes to Jeff and Gordon before shutting off communications.

Jeff sighed and turned his chair to face Gordon who was leaning against the armrest of the chair.

"You're not mad at them are you?" Gordon asked. Jeff turned to him shaking his head.

"No. I don't really mind your games. I'm just thinking about how long this is going to take. It could be vital." Jeff said.

"Then we'll send the espresso machine up. That'll keep them going. It'll get things done faster too." Gordon said grinning.

"Sounds tempting, but I'm not letting that thing leave this house. Do me a favour and go see how Virgil and Alan are doing?" Jeff asked. Gordon nodded and stood up, making his way to the lab.

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"Hold still Vigil. It can't be that bad." Scott said watching Virgil flinch a bit as Brains tried to put the eye drops in Virgil's eyes.

"Yeah Virge. It's nothing compared to other injuries." Alan said, standing next to Scott.

"You're next Alan, so zip it." Virgil said as Brains finished the second eye.

"N-now don't r-r- touch your eyes Virgil for a few minutes." Brains said. Scott pushed Alan forward and pulled Virgil back. Alan raised his head and let Brains register the drops. He flinched and stepped back as the first eye drop went in.

"Urgh."

"See Alan, not as easy as it looks." Virgil said watching Alan. Alan puffed out his cheeks a bit, a scowl coming to his face.

"A little warning would have been nice."

"Where's my fun in that? Besides it's better this way." Virgil said smiling. Alan shook his head and let Brains finish his task.

"There. F-finished." Brains said. Alan blinked rapidly for a few moments. He felt the irritation quickly going away.

"Thanks Brains. It helps a lot." Alan said.

"Yeah, it does. Thanks." Virgil said, nodding in agreement.

"No p-p-problem boys." Brains said.

From the opposite side of the room, Gordon came walking in.

"Hey guys!" He called out. Scott, Virgil, Alan, and Brains all turned towards him.

"Hey. Do you need something?" Scott asked as Gordon came to stand by them. Gordon shook his head.

"Dad just wanted me to come see if you guys were almost done." He said.

"Yeah, they're finished here." Scott replied.

"Cool. Well dad just finished talking to John. He's going to come down here shortly and tell you what he needs loaded on Thunderbird 3." Gordon told them.

"Did John h-h-happen to mention what's s-still not working?" Brains asked ready to make mental notes.

"He said only a bit of lighting on the lower deck and I think some of the radar." Gordon answered. Brains nodded and walked back over to his desk, going over the many notes he had strewn out.

"Okay then. Let's get going. I'm sure dad wants you ready soon Alan." Scott said starting to walk away followed by Gordon, Virgil and Alan who lingered a moment before catching up to them.

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"Is everything ready?" Jeff asked as everyone rendezvoused in the office. He received a wave of nods. "Good. Do you have everything ready Alan?" He asked looking over at his son.

"Yes, sir." Alan replied.

"Okay then. I don't think you need Scott to accompany you for this. It's a simple trip." Jeff said having thought about it.

"Are you sure about that?" Scott asked. "Wouldn't it be quicker if I helped out too?"

"It would, but I need at least three of you here incase something comes up." Jeff told Scott, who nodded after consideration.

"That's settled then. Off you go then Alan, and good luck." Jeff said.

"F.A.B." Alan said walking past his father's desk to the other side of the room.

"Wait a minute Alan." Jeff said. Alan turned around and saw that his father had his hand out stretched. Alan looked at his father seeing the smirk on his face. Sighing he reached in his pocket and pulled out the container of eye drops Brains used on them. Handing it over to Jeff he shook his head.

"How you know these things is beyond me." He said before continuing on his way.

"Bye Al!" Gordon said followed by Scott and Virgil who gave their farewells as well, watching as Alan slowly disappeared through his designated wall space.

Jeff sent a call out to John who answered immediately.

"You're getting ready now?" John asked.

"Yes. Alan's on his way now to Thunderbird 3. We have everything you two will need." Jeff said. After going over a few things a few more times, Jeff heard Alan's call from Thunderbird 3.

"Call me when he arrives." Jeff told John who nodded and signed off.

"All set Alan?"

"Yes, sir. Permission to start launch sequence?" Came Alan's voice through procedures.

"Permission granted." Jeff replied.

"Launch, T minus ten seconds." Came Alan's voice. Scott, Virgil, and Gordon walked over to a monitor to watch the lift off on the screen. The great engines of Thunderbird 3 were heard, and they watched as the massive red rocket quickly gained altitude and headed off into endless abyss.

"Think he'll be alright?" Virgil asked. Gordon shrugged his shoulders.

"It's been thirty seconds and no damage yet. Odds look good so far."

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**Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I needed a filler chapter, before the next one. **

**Hope you enjoyed this one. **

**Please Review! **

**Devlinn Reiko**


	3. Welcome

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Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.

**I apologize for the long wait. I've been busy with assignments and also tiny bit of writer's block. **

**I'm glad those of you who reviewed are enjoying this fic so far. I'll try to get this updated quicker, but culminating assignments are starting to come up in school, so it might get pushed back at times. **

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**Chapter Two**

Exiting the earth's atmosphere layers, Alan was met with the change from blue sky to black abyss with the stars all around in the distance. He was mesmerized for a few minutes, as this was still new territory to Alan despite his previous few journeys into space. Turning his attention back to the control panel, he went through his procedures.

"Thunderbird 3 to Thunderbird 5, do you copy?" Alan asked, waiting for John's answer. It took a few seconds longer then usual, but John's reply came through.

"Hey Alan." John said visual screen in front of Alan flickering on. "Well it looks like communications are slightly improved. How far are you from docking?" John asked.

"Are the tracking systems not working?" Alan asked wondering why John was asking him this. John shrugged his shoulders and scratched the back of his head.

"Well it was, but with long range radar out, it decided to take a nap too." John said leaning back in his chair. Alan shook his head and scanned the panel in front of him.

"I'm about 5 minutes from destination. The readings are saying that Thunderbird 5's docking locks are down too." Alan said looking up at John. John raised an eyebrow and leaned to his left to look at a screen.

"And that's left as well. Well manual docking then I guess. I'm starting to think you should have brought Brains with you." John said, focus back on Alan.

"Seems so. I'm just approaching now. I'll switch to manual, and then override the door when I get there." Alan said.

"F.A.B. Alan. See you in a few." John said before switching off. Alan switched to manual and took control of Thunderbird 3. Gently maneuvering the ship, he brought it up along Thunderbird 5 and eased it on its side to connect it with Thunderbird 5. Quickly locking the dock locks between the two ships, Alan then inputted the override system to airlock the doors. Making a final check over the control panel, Alan got up and made his way to the airlock room.

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Over on Thunderbird 5 John sat in his seat, slightly swaying the seat as he patiently waited. The control panel behind him started blinking, letting John know that Alan was boarding. Pressing a few buttons, John pushed himself out of the chair and made his way over to the door. Waiting for the secure lights to flash on saying that it was safe to open the door, he saw the green and yellow light flicker on, and opened the door. Walking along the air duct chamber, John walked over to Thunderbird's 3 doors where Alan was unloading the cargo onto a trolley. Alan looked over his shoulder and upon seeing John, smiled and turned around to welcome John's embrace. John ruffled Alan's hair before letting Alan go.

"Hey Alan."

"Hey John. I got something for you." Alan said smiling up at John. John raised a brow and looked down at Alan.

"What is it this time? A ferret?" Alan shook his head and walked back into Thunderbird 3. Curious, John followed only to have a box suddenly pushed into his arms.

"I'm guessing this is it?" John said, looking at the box not liking the fact that it was only spare parts needed for Thunderbird 5. Alan grinned carrying over another box and loading it on the trolley, leaving no room for John to put his down.

"Yeah, and if you're good I'll give you the rest." Alan said before pushing the trolley over into Thunderbird 5.

"Maybe I got lucky and got a working coffee machine." John muttered to himself before following Alan. Walking into the space station John set the box down on a work bench before making his way over to the computers. Bringing up the connection system, he patched a call home. The screen was slightly static and unresponsive for a few seconds before it came to life, his father's face replacing the blank screen.

"Hey John. I'm guessing Alan's there now." Jeff said.

"What a mess. Did you finally get fed up and start fighting back against the computers?" Alan's voice filtered through the room causing Jeff to smile and John to smile and look over his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jeff said. "How are things going up there?"

"Well we found out the automatic docking locks aren't working either now." John said letting his dad know the bad news. Jeff sighed and brought a hand to his temple.

"I'm guessing this will delay things a bit?" Jeff asked, not liking the sound of things.

"Only by a little I hope." John said. Jeff seemed to be thinking something over.

"Well you're first to get the communications and main power running. That's our main problem at the moment." Jeff said.

"F.A.B. I'll report back once we've cleared that up." John said smiling at his dad. Jeff gave a nod.

"F.A.B. John, say hello to Alan for me."

"Will do." John said before switching off the communications. Turning his chair around he got up and went to find Alan. Walking back to Thunderbird 3, John saw Alan with the last crate of supplies.

"All done Alan?"

"Yep. It sure looks like a lot more than what you asked for." Alan said scrunching his face up.

"Yeah, but I'm sure every piece will be put to good use." John said, taking the crate from Alan. They both made their way back onto Thunderbird 5. After sorting out the supplies John and Alan stood in front of the main computers checking over systems.

"I think we're going to have to replace some of the wires that were fried in the storm. That'll take some time up." John told Alan. Both moved behind the control panels and slowly took it apart revealing the nerve systems. A few sparks few out at Alan making him jump back a bit.

"Careful. You don't want to singe your hair off." John cautioned Alan. Alan shook his head and moved back over.

"Kinda late notice, huh?" John shook his head at the remark.

"We'll finish this and then move onto something else." John said before putting gloves on and checking the wiring through the system.

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**Well there's the next chapter. Hopefully I'll get the next one up soon, as well as _Inevitable_. **

**Please Review. **

**Devlinn Reiko**


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